Who’s Hitting the Chocolate Bar?

The Trailer Park Casanovas, one of L.A.’s most enduring and inventive bands, offer a rare mutation of hillbilly punk, and you can check them out tonight at the Garage in Silver Lake. . . .

Although Mike Tyson may have weighed in at Chocolate Bar, it was not at Pedro’s Grill (as reported in last week’s Club Buzz). The immensely popular soul joint left Pedro’s for the underground, taking up on Saturday nights at an undisclosed downtown loft. The 6-month-old club offers an L.A., Chicago and Brooklyn vibe by virtue of its tri-city promoters--Aurelito hails from Chi-town, Shakespeare comes from Brooklyn and Kjell is the lone Southlander. They bring L.A. a cool mix of rare groove, hip-hop, house, dance hall and jungle music, with local and touring deejays passing through weekly. If you want to be a part of the action, call the Chocolate Bar hotline at (213) 960-5197. Those of you who get out and about may already have scored a recent Chocolate Bar flier, which is actually a Hershey’s candy bar containing all the club’s finer points. Although Chocolate Bar plans to relocate again in the near future, it won’t happen until after Oct. 4, when the promoters have invited five underground artists to showcase their works. In addition, next spring, Aurelito and Kjell plan to open their own venue in the Miracle Mile area, which Aurelito says won’t be filled with outside promoters but will be slammin’ seven nights a week. . . .

Contrary to popular belief, the Hollywood bar Small’s is still open for business, with the new owner beginning renovations this week and a splashy reopening under a different, not-yet-finalized name being planned for later this fall. . . .

If you feel like frying some of that precarious mental wiring so common among club-goers, check out Moonshine Over America ‘97, the kickoff of a four-week-old tour featuring performers from one of L.A.’s premier electronica labels, Moonshine Music. It’s happening tonight at the Metropolis in Orange County. . . .

Those of you who want to keep it closer to home but are no less eager to get far out, may want to check out Mr. T’s Talent Show, which takes place tonight in Highland Park at the spooky, now-defunct bowling alley but still functioning bar and nightclub known as Mr. T’s Bowl. From a Chinese tehruv player to a zoot-suited punker playing stand-up bass, this is one talent show you don’t want to miss.